A small but growing number of central Ohioans have taken their passion for hockey to a new level
— the basement level.

Where other homeowners have rec rooms, workshops or TV lounges, they have hockey rinks. By
laying sheets of synthetic ice, they have transformed their basements into destinations for power
plays, slap shots and faceoffs.

“I tell friends, ‘I may not have a movie room, but I do have an ice rink,’ ” joked Bridget Wolf,
whose Powell basement is dominated by a 34-by-16-foot hockey rink, complete with dasher boards,
goals, pennants and adjacent lockers for ice skates and other gear.

Bridget and her husband, Joe, installed the rink almost four years ago for their two sons, Blake
and Grant, now 7 and 11.

Joe’s father, Mike Wolf, bought the rink as a gift. He bought another for son Andy and grandson
Zachary, 7, in Blacklick.

“When you tell people your kids have an ice rink in the basement, they say, ‘What?’ ” Mike Wolf
said. “But the kids love it.”

A handful of other central Ohio homes are known to have basement rinks, including the former
Dublin home of ex-

Columbus Blue Jacket Adam Foote.

The rinks are built of synthetic ice — a hard white plastic that comes in sheets that snap
together. Although prices vary widely, surfaces from the best-known companies run about $9 to $12 a
square foot, bringing the cost of a 15-by-25-foot rink to about $4,000 (not including extras such
as dasher boards).

Artificial ice has been sold for decades to institutional and corporate buyers, but more
homeowners are discovering it.

“The residential market has grown tremendously,” said Jimmy Durham, president of Ice Rink
Engineering and Manufacturing in Greenville, S.C., which makes one of the best-known synthetic
ices, EZ Glide 350.

“There are a lot of mothers out there who have a little Dorothy Hamill growing up. They’re
putting these rinks in their attics, basements, garages, driveways — anywhere they can.”

Mike Wolf bought his sons’ rinks from KwikRink, a Minnesota firm that specializes in synthetic
ice for hockey use.

Most sellers charge to cut the sheets to fit a room or send full sheets that customers can cut
themselves.

Wolf and his sons say the rinks were easy to install, but uneven floors might make the job
difficult. The half-inch sheets, which typically come in 4-by-8-foot or 4-by-4-foot panels, snap
together like jigsaw pieces and lay directly on the floor.

While some brands of ice, such as Xtraice, contain a built-in lubricant, others recommend an
occasional light coating to help the glide.

Joe and Andy Wolf spray a sugar-water mixture to lubricate the surface but otherwise say
maintenance is limited to sweeping dirt off the ice.

“That’s my Zamboni,” said Joe Wolf, pointing to a Shop-Vac in the corner of his basement.

Synthetic ice surfaces take years to wear down — manufacturers offer warranties ranging from
four to a dozen years — and manufacturers say if the surface becomes too rough, it can be flipped
over.

Despite continued improvements to the material, synthetic ice remains more resistant than real
ice.

“I’m a hockey player from Canada. I played 20 years,” said Clinton Senkow, who is now a sales
representative for Xtraice.

“I never skated on synthetic ice before, but I am basically able to do the same sort of things I
could do on real ice . . . on our product. . . . It’s about 85 percent as good as ice, but I would
never say it’s just like ice. Maybe with a couple more generations of research it will be.”

The resistance against momentum can be a plus when teaching children to skate. Joe Wolf likens
it to practicing with a weighted bat before heading to the plate.

Joe and Andy Wolf are convinced the indoor rinks have helped their sons’ hockey skills.

“It’s not really ice, so it makes you work harder,” agreed 11-year-old Grant.

Parents also like having their sons spend time playing hockey in the basement with friends.

“Zachary will have some hockey friends over and that’s all they want to do, go down and skate,”
Andy Wolf said. “An hour later, he’ll come up soaking wet, drenched, red-faced and exhausted.”

Beyond price, indoor rinks have a few drawbacks.

The Wolfs and online reviewers say the surface can dull skate blades and create tiny plastic
shavings that must be vacuumed to keep them from spreading to the house.

Joe and Bridget Wolf had to install protectors over their lights and basement windows after
Grant slapped a puck through a window. They also hung mesh between the rink and two easy chairs
after Bridget Wolf dodged a few hockey pucks while watching her sons play.

Still, users say that even though synthetic ice isn’t quite like the real thing, it’s a great
substitute.

“For anybody who plays hockey or who is learning to skate, it’s perfect,” Andy Wolf said. “It is
pricey, but for someone who plays hockey or has friends who play hockey, it’s great. You never have
to worry about going to the rink for ice time.”